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NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

Weed the nonsense out of marijuana advocacy

By Eric Harrison

Alas, it seems the campaign for marijuana legalization will not be moving forward in 2010 after all. California's Proposition 19 - the proposal to legalize recreational marijuana use for those over 21 - was defeated on Tuesday, dashing the hopes of those who sought to use it as a platform to challenge bans elsewhere. It seems very likely that a majority of students support legalization. If you count yourself among this group, give yourself a pat on the back - you've reached the correct conclusion.But as in all matters, how you arrive at the correct conclusion is just as important as the fact that you arrive at the correct conclusion. Considering this, the pro-legalization crowd has been woefully inept. The legalization arguments have become largely predictable, but none of them offer a compelling reason to justify legalization and all of them foolishly concede far too much to those who favor prohibition - and in doing so, make the job of the prohibitionists that much easier. On Prop 19, as has so often been the case, proponents of legalization were their own worst enemies.

NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

Swimming falls to nationally ranked powers at SMU

By Christine Jeon

In many ways, the Conference USA Men's Cross Country Championship has become more theater than sport, following a meticulous script that puts either the University of Tulsa or the University of Texas at El Paso as the lead actor and the Owls as the supporting role. For better or worse for the men's cross country team, Rice has followed the script perfectly, as they took home their third place finish in the C-USA Cross Country Championship held Monday at Indian Springs Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. Tulsa racked up just 34 points, with UTEP following closely with 42 and Rice trailing in third with 87. Redshirt junior Michael Trejo assumed his role as elder statesman of the roster, taking 10th place overall and earning a spot on the All-C-USA Second Team. Following him were redshirt junior Gabe Cuadra with a time of 24:31, freshman John Cavallo, who crossed the finish line just six seconds behind Cuadra to earn 19th place, and redshirt junior Matt Carey, who, in making his first appearance for the Owls this year, joined Cuadra and Cavallo on the All-C-USA-Third Team with his finish in 20th place. The fifth man and final scorer for the Owls was redshirt junior James Llamas. Rounding out the runners for the Owls were three true freshmen, Wyatt Doop who came in with a time of 25:33, Anthony Urbanelli and Travis Roberts, who were all just a second apart from each other. Redshirt sophomore Anthony Lauriello came in 43rd place, finishing the race in 26:28. Elkana Rotich from UTEP took the individual title, with Cavallo earning the Freshman of the Year Award.

NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

NOD Vegas has high roll

By Joey Capparella

Wiess College went all out for students to go all in at the 38th annual Night of Decadence: "Viva NOD Vegas" this past Saturday. More than 1,500 scantily clad students attended, approximately 200 more students than last year's NOD.Wiess Socials Kelsey Mase and Alysa Frost both said they were pleased with how the party went this year.

NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

Kids go to Project Pumpkin

By Tina Ou

Children in costume flooded Rice with Halloween spirit last Saturday. Project Pumpkin, which took place in the Central Quadrangle, is a Halloween celebration held annually by Rice clubs and organizations for children from Houston.This year, Project Pumpkin was coordinated by Rice Student Volunteer Program members Elisa Zhao, a Hanszen College sophomore, and Dana Zhao, a Wiess College sophomore. RSVP Children's Committee Chairs Melissa Sheng and Wen Zhang, who are Duncan College juniors, helped coordinate the event as well.

NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

Relish: Max's Wine Dive appropriately classy, has delicious gourmet comfort food

By Siegfried Bilstein and Dan Nelson

Sometimes when you're a senior, you feel like you need to do real-ass adult stuff, like wearing something that isn't even a Rice Athletics T-shirt or going on super hot dates to places that aren't even in the Village. Last Saturday, we decided to fulfill these urges by going to Max's Wine Dive, a moderately classy wine bar located on Washington Avenue. Max's does two things very well: It makes some really solid gourmet comfort food and it costs way more money than either of us will ever have. Upon entering Max's, the first thing we noticed was the light fixtures made of wine bottles hanging from the ceiling. The restaurant's red brick interior and "industrial chic" aesthetic made us feel like we were so not in a dive. There was a massive wine collection on display near the entrance. While the selection seemed impressive, we were shocked by the total lack of both wine in boxes and fortified wine. This, coupled with the hip young urban professional (read: yuppie) crowd, made us feel like we were finally in the company of super high rollers like ourselves.

NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

Students go to vote

By Ellen Liu

Rice students, faculty and alumni headed to the polls on Nov. 2 to cast their ballots for the midterm election. Between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., 400 people went to the Miner Lounge in the Rice Memorial Center and voted for national, state and county officials.Election Judge Cindy Dinh helped plan and oversee the entire process and said she was extremely pleased with Tuesday's turnout. Dinh, a McMurtry College senior, said that, according to a previous election judge, only about 100 students had come to the polls a few years ago. Dinh said any eligible voter who uses his residential college address can vote on campus, but usually not many people participate during midterm elections.

NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

McMurtry College officially inaugurated in style

By Ami Dave

The campus resonated with voices shouting, "Three cheers for Murt, Murt, Murt; leave other colleges in the dirt, dirt, dirt," last Friday afternoon, as members of the Rice community gathered to celebrate the official inauguration of McMurtry College.McMurtry is Rice's 10th residential college. Burt (Baker '56 and '57) and Deedee (Brown '56) McMurtry flew in from their home in California to attend the formal ceremony recognizing their contribution which made building McMurtry possible.

NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

Endowment sees renewed growth

By Henry Deng

For fiscal year 2010, which ended on June 30, the Rice endowment was measured at $3.79 billion, up from $3.61 billion at the end of fiscal year 2009. According to Interim Vice President of Investments and Treasurer Ron Long, the return on the endowment was an increase of 9.9 percent, as opposed to a loss of 18.2 percent during the previous fiscal year. According to Long, the $3.79 billion is calculated by taking the figure from the year before, adding investment returns on the year ($358 million) and cash gifts ($36 million) and subtracting the amount distributed to the university for spending ($221 million).

NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

Rice: the embodiment of conservatism

By Anthony Lauriella

It should be evident that Rice is, simply put, awesome. We routinely win quality of life awards; every Owl knows that, if there is paradise on Earth, then it surely lies within the hedges. It is harder, though, to find out what exactly sets ?Rice apart.Plenty of other schools have great education opportunities and professors, and many others have intelligent student bodies. The answer might surprise some, but I firmly believe what separates Rice from the nation's other institutions is a tried and true ?conservative philosophy.

NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

Letters to the Editor

 

With a mixture of amusement and bewilderment I was able to see myself quoted in Brooke Bullock's recent article ("New world lit department considered," Oct. 29). The article leaves the distinct impression that, due to the interdisciplinary nature of German Studies, German Studies faculty actively support a merger of the department with Hispanic Studies, French Studies, and Classical Studies. Indeed, my remark to Bullock that German Studies happens to be an interdisciplinary field of study - from literature and history to film studies and political theory - was even taken to imply that I myself was actively supporting such a merger along the lines suggested by the many comments made by José Aranda, my esteemed colleague and the chair of Hispanic Studies as well as French Studies. Let me be very clear about this: The fact that German Studies is an interdisciplinary field of research should, under no circumstances, be taken to mean that the department of German Studies, or myself, would like to see German Studies at Rice dissolved into a "world literature department." Sure, because of its history as a discipline, as much as because of the current constellation of internationally renowned faculty at Rice, German Studies has always been involved in establishing strong links to neighboring departments, both at Rice and beyond. Just take a look at german.rice.edu. But the fact of interdisciplinarity is neither an argument for, nor an argument against a department merger. It is entirely unrelated to the administrative questions at stake in this discussion. I am happy to assume, though, that I have not been intentionally misquoted. Christian J. Emden Associate professor of German Studies

NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

Classic Flicks: Herzog's Stroszek intriguing; moving

By Joseph Allencherril

If you have never heard of German film director Werner Herzog, one of the early proponents of the New German Cinema movement of the '60s, '70s and '80s, I envy you - you are in for the movie-going experience of a lifetime. Many directors dilute their otherwise magnificent oeuvres by producing mediocre films in their later years. Herzog is the exception: a director who has yet to take a misstep in his work and continues to produce great films. In Stroszek, Bruno Stroszek (credited as Bruno S.), a recently released convict, his prostitute girlfriend Eva (Eva Mattes) and their senior neighbor Scheitz (Clemens Scheitz) leave their home in Germany for 1970s rural Wisconsin in search of a better life. Herzog builds up and tears down the American dream in Stroszek; Stroszek's hopes crumble before him as he slowly learns the harsh laws of life.

NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

'Green' grade disappoints

By Staff Editorial

Rice University was given a B+ as an ecologically "green" rating in the College Sustainability Report Card (see story, page 4). This rating represents an improvement over last year's B rating; however, it does not quite meet Rice's expectations of being a member of the more elite ecologically conservative universities. The report cited Rice as lowest-rated in the areas of endowment transparency and ?administration. Upon reflecting on some of the university's more conversationally questionable practices, this C grade for the administration is not surprising. Many campus-wide issues require attention, such as the campus sprinkler system. The sprinkling schedule, at least around parts of the campus, seem to be malfunctioning, resulting in plants being watered at peak temperature points during the day. Watering while the sun is out is an absolute waste, since a majority of the water being dispensed is simply evaporated by the beating sun. Furthermore, the sprinklers seem to lack any sort of sensors that prevent over-watering or watering during rain. The implementation of this sort of sensor system would not be a huge financial burden and would alleviate a great deal of water waste, saving the university money in the long run, while also helping the environment. Smaller problems around campus also persist, such as the constantly frigid temperature of the Duncan College Commons and the perpetual running lights that are impossible to shut off in the common rooms of many of the newly constructed suites.

NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

Volleyball feasts on C-USA bottom dwellers

By Dan Elledge

Although the regular-season conference title became a more difficult goal to attain for the volleyball team due to continued wins by conference front runners the University of Tulsa and Southern Methodist University this weekend, the casual observer would not have been able to tell by the performance Rice posted this weekend. The Owls rebounded from last weekends' tough losses at home to Tulsa and SMU with a perfect weekend on the road.On Friday, the Owls started the weekend off right by beating East Carolina University (1-23, 0-12 C-USA) 3-1. For the match, sophomore middle blocker Nancy Cole had a career-high 20 kills, breaking her week-old record of 18 that she tallied against SMU, while freshman outside hitter Mariah Riddlesprigger added 15. Cole also had a remarkable .471 hitting percentage and added five blocks for the Owls. Senior setter Meredith Schamun led all players with 35 assists, while senior libero Tracey Lam had 19 digs. Junior outside hitter Jordan Meredith provided 10 digs and freshman middle blocker Megan Shepard contributed nine kills.

NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

Women take second place at C-USA Championship

By Natalie Clericuzio

In eight days, the women's cross country team will run at the South Central Regional race. In other words, it's go time. Before the season, the team's goal was to qualify for the national meet. In order for that to happen, the team must place in the top two at Regionals. After last weekend's second-place finish in the Conference USA Championship meet behind No. 24 University of Tulsa, the team has to kick it into high gear between then and now, according to Head Coach Jim Bevan.

NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

Online only: Rice hosts annual law panel

By Cindy Dinh

Eight local lawyers, judges and law professors joined students Monday at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy for the annual Legal Career Panel hosted by Legalese - Rice's pre-law society, the Baker Institute Student Forum and LOVE 237: Introduction to Law course. The panel is hosted every year to give students some insight on various areas of law, what lawyers do, what a typical day is like and how they got their positions, Assistant District Attorney for Fort Bend County Rudy Ramirez (Lovett '01) said.

NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

Men's cross country aided by youth movement

By Jonathan Myers

In many ways, the Conference USA Men's Cross Country Championship has become more theater than sport, following a meticulous script that puts either the University of Tulsa or the University of Texas at El Paso as the lead actor and the Owls as the supporting role. For better or worse for the men's cross country team, Rice has followed the script perfectly, as they took home their third place finish in the C-USA Cross Country Championship held Monday at Indian Springs Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. Tulsa racked up just 34 points, with UTEP following closely with 42 and Rice trailing in third with 87. Redshirt junior Michael Trejo assumed his role as elder statesman of the roster, taking 10th place overall and earning a spot on the All-C-USA Second Team. Following him were redshirt junior Gabe Cuadra with a time of 24:31, freshman John Cavallo, who crossed the finish line just six seconds behind Cuadra to earn 19th place, and redshirt junior Matt Carey, who, in making his first appearance for the Owls this year, joined Cuadra and Cavallo on the All-C-USA-Third Team with his finish in 20th place. The fifth man and final scorer for the Owls was redshirt junior James Llamas. Rounding out the runners for the Owls were three true freshmen, Wyatt Doop who came in with a time of 25:33, Anthony Urbanelli and Travis Roberts, who were all just a second apart from each other. Redshirt sophomore Anthony Lauriello came in 43rd place, finishing the race in 26:28. Elkana Rotich from UTEP took the individual title, with Cavallo earning the Freshman of the Year Award.

NEWS 11/4/10 7:00pm

Ignoring immigration is ignoring the future

By Neeraj Salhotra

There is often much discussion about U.S. immigration policy; however, the discourse invariably focuses on illegal immigration and, of late, the Arizona immigration law. While both of these issues are worth debate, I will focus on another, less mainstream yet vitally important facet of the immigration issue: visa quotas for highly skilled workers.The U.S. has always been a haven for the brightest minds - Albert Einstein, Ieoh Ming Pei and Vinod Khosla, to name a few. The world's greatest students view U.S. universities as among the best in the world. This mindset annually empowers more than 500,000 foreign-born students to travel thousands of miles to attend American universities.

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